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Friday, March 25, 2011

Review: Milanoo / An*Tai*Na

I decided it was finally time to invest in some lolita footwear. I was a bit wary when I decided to buy from Milanoo.com, they have a terrible reputation on the EGL fourms, they are known to steal photos from other loli brands, but I also knew the shoes I would be buying would come from a fairly reputable lolita brand called An*Tai*Na, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

First things first, before and after I made my order I talked with their live customer service, they have names like Peggy, and Tracy making you feel like you'll be chatting with a native English speaker. There's no way English is these people first language, they're quite slow in responding, and often rude in a way that makes me think they haven't learned English pleasantries.

From the time I bought the shoes to the time they arrived on my doorstep it took a little over a month and a half. But after I received the official shipping conformation it took 8 days. It really wasn't too bad, but I sent packages to a friend in Korea and Japan the day after I bought the shoes and it took a week for the packages to get to them. There's big difference between 7 days and 45, so on the whole I'll give shipping a 3 out of 10.

Shoes were sent in their regular shoe boxes wrapped in a thin plastic covering which is why they're so beat up. A better company would have tried to package them better but my shoes were unscathed so I can't really complain. The shoes themselves were individualy placed in plastic as well so there was no scuffing on their journey.

Along with my shoes I bought a pair of Secret Shop socks. I've actually been looking at this particular pair for years, something about them captivates me and I'm very happy with them even though they don't match my wardrobe very well.

The fabric seems sturdy enough and super soft on the inside. The first thing I noticed when I pulled them on was that they were quite tight, they fit my legs just fine without washing out the pattern, and being so tight I think I can wear them confidently without sock glue or garters to prevent slipping. But I wouldn't recommend them to anyone with calves on the larger side.

The first pair of shoes I pulled out are my brand new mint version of the popular Tea Parties. I bought all the shoes in a size 8 and these ended up being a little big, not enough for it to bother me though, they are also quite wide. In fact all the shoes I ordered ended up bigger and wider then expected, I assume it's either that the brand runs large, or to there's something in the make to achieve the Lolita doll foot look that just makes it wide.

The heel and sole feel solid enough, I do recommend gel inserts if you plan on walking around in them a lot as there's absolutely no arch support, the shoe itself is made out of material that feels rather flimsy, it will most likely scuff and 'wrinkle' very easily, but hopefully not where will be very visible.

The buckles are cute heart shaped but also very flimsy. Luckily you only have to adjust them once because once you've got them how you want them all the buckles are also attached to snaps. Some people might find these unsightly, but it might be the best part about these shoes (aside from the cuteness). With all the buckles on loli shoes this will really cut down on dressing time.

I've been in need of red lolita shoes for a long time, most of my wardrobe has some shade of red in it. Like with my tea parties I bought these in a size 8, and like with my tea parties they are a bit large and wide, not enough that it bothers me though. I tightened the strap around my ankle (they have the same snaps at the tea parties so I'll only have to do that once) so my feet aren't slipping every which way, and that works for me.

Both the bow at the toe and on the strap are removable, and I like the material used on these the better then the tea parties, it's matte instead of shiny, I still think it will be susceptible to 'wrinkles' but will hopefully be less noticeable in the long run.

These are SOOOO cute! I didn't really need this pair, but I thought having a pair of loli sandals would be a smart buy. They have the same kind of snap buckles that other pairs have, and are made of the same type of shiny material the tea parties are. Except the white parts which are matte. Unfortunately they are HUGE! There's a good 1 1/2 difference in size between my foot and these shoes. Unlike the size difference with the other pairs it's so big I can't wear them, in fact I think Milanoo sent me these in the wrong size. I'm trying to work out returning them for maybe a size 7, but Milanoos return policy sucks so we'll so how that goes. If not I'll try selling them, there's nothing else wrong with them aside from the size.

In the future I might buy from Milanoo again, but probably only things like shoes and socks because I know exactly where they come from. I will also try to buy in a smaller size.

EDIT: Never buy from Milanoo guys. I sent them off an email about the pink sandals the day the package came in the mail. They gave me the run around until the 7 day return period ran out, then they stopped answering my emails. I even messaged them on their facebook page but they didn't reply.

Terrible customer service. I'd rather pay a little bit more at some place that I can actually make returns to if I need to.

2 comments:

I love your reviews. They are so detailed, and complete with pictures. I'm not always the hugest fan of how lolita shoes look because they so often look clunky. However, those red shoes look beautiful.